But I thought they were aquitted and released? At which point you'd expect Bantleman to get the hell out of the country-rather than hang around for this?!!!!

I thought the same thing. Apparently his passport was never returned to him. He has been waiting 11 months until the prosecutors mounted their appeal to the Supreme Court. What a living nightmare for everyone concerned.

Hopefully, he is high tailing it out of there on some boat. Get to another country and let the diplomats sort it out.

Someone in the Canadian government should get him a passport wherever he is and get him out of there.

Jakarta: A shock decision to reinstate a prison term for teachers acquitted of sodomy charges at an elite international school in Jakarta has been slammed by the Canadian government, which has warned its relationship with Indonesia is at stake.

The brother of one of the teachers – Canadian Neil Bantleman – told Fairfax Media he was "completely stunned" by the decision and a request for a judicial review would be immediately filed.

"Neil was outside of Jakarta when the ruling was made but is returning with the aid of Canadian officials," Guy Bantleman said via email.

Mr Bantleman and Indonesian teacher's aide Ferdinant Tjiong were sentenced to 10 years in prison last year for molesting three preschool boys at the Jakarta Intercultural School.

Evidence presented by prosecution witnesses included that Mr Bantleman would have been seeking other sexual outlets because he only had sex once a week with his wife and did not masturbate.

The Jakarta High Court overturned the men's convictions last year but the sentences were reinstated on Wednesday by the Supreme Court, with an extra year of jail added.

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion said the Canadian government was "deeply dismayed and shocked" by the Supreme Court decision given the many "grave irregularities" in the case.

"Despite Canada's repeated calls for due process, this case was not handled in a fair and transparent manner.

"The outcome of this case has serious implications for Indonesia's reputation as a safe place for Canadians to work, travel and invest as well as for its long history of cooperation with Indonesia."

US Ambassador to Indonesia Robert Blake had earlier issued a statement – remarkable in its forthright condemnation when diplomats are normally so cautious – that said the US was "shocked and disappointed".

"In August 2015, the Indonesian High Court found that there was not sufficient evidence to support the teachers' conviction," he said.

"It is not clear what evidence the Supreme Court used to overturn the High Court's decision. The outcome of the legal process will impact international views about the rule of law in Indonesia."

The twists and turns in the case have attracted intense international scrutiny because the Jakarta Intercultural School, formerly known as the Jakarta International School, is attended by the children of diplomats and expats – including a large number of Australians – and wealthy Indonesians.

The high-fee school, now Indonesia's largest international school, used to be called the Joint Embassy School, after its Australian, British, American and (then) Yugoslavian embassy partners.

The allegations of sexual abuse at the school first emerged in 2014 when six cleaners at the school were arrested for raping the same children.

One of the cleaners died in custody – Indonesian police persist in claiming he committed suicide despite claims by the remaining cleaners of torture being used to gain confessions.

The others, despite saying in court they were tortured by police into confessing, were sentenced to up to eight years prison in December 2014.

Mr Bantleman and Mr Tjiong were arrested in July 2014. Their initial Jakarta District Court case, which gripped the expat community, was filled with bizarre allegations and testimonies.

A prosecution witness, "sexologist" Dr Naek L Tobing gave evidence to the Jakarta District Court last year that Mr Bantleman only had sex with his wife once a week, when the "norm" was every day or two to three times a week.

As he also did not masturbate he would be seeking sexual outlets, Tobing claimed.

"There is a question how could he release his sexual desire," Chief Judge Nur Aslam Bustaman said in the Jakarta District Court last year.

"These conditions could create abnormal sexual behaviour."

It was alleged that Mr Bantleman sexually abused the boys in a room on the second floor of the administration building which was never identified by police and a nearby kitchen.

Mr Bantleman was said to have inserted a 'magic stone' into the anus of one of the boys to anaesthetise him before he was raped.

Due to the effect of the magic stone, the child said he felt numb from his bottom to the back of his thighs but still had the sensation of something being inserted into his anus.

The parents of one of the children said to have been sodomised separately sued the school for $US125 million ($173 million), compounding speculation that the rape charges were about money.

The case was rejected on a technicality, although the judges noted the parents had not proved the rape took place.

Chandra Saptaji, from the South Jakarta prosecutor's office said Mr Bantleman had been travelling in Bali when the Supreme Court made its decision.

"We did not arrest him. He voluntarily surrendered himself to the prosecutor and he was accompanied by the representative of the Canadian embassy," Mr Chandra said

Mr Bantleman flew back to Jakarta overnight and is now in Cipinang prison in Jakarta.

Jakarta Intercultural School director Sinta Sirait said Mr Bantleman and Mr Tjiong had not run away and were now in custody to follow the next legal process to fight for truth and justice.

"They are honorable men who are innocent of these baseless allegations," she said in a statement.

"Neil and Ferdi are respected teachers. Their dedication to their students and to the Indonesian community is undeniable. It really breaks our heart us to see such remarkable and exemplary individuals be accused and treated unjustly."

Ms Sinta said the verdict was not only unfair but endangered the teaching profession.

"Anyone can be convicted according to an unsubstantiated accusation that is based only on unreliable stories," she said.

Ms Sinta said the school hoped the men could stand tall through this very difficult time. "Our hearts and our support will always be with them."

What a horror story! Once exonerated and released, I think I'd have tried to find a way out of the country, with or without a passport. Although perhaps the very fact of their exoneration and release gave them a false sense of security that the "judicial system" could be trusted. Truly chilling.

Canadian couple Neil and Tracy Bantleman came to Indonesia as idealistic young teachers in search of adventure. They scored dream jobs at the prestigious Jakarta International School, teaching the scions of wealthy Indonesians and expats.

Now Neil Bantleman is serving 11 years in a Jakarta jail after being convicted of sexually assaulting three little boys.

It’s like, is this a movie? Is this a nightmare? – Neil Bantleman

A westerner accused of preying on the children of the nation’s elite... The case triggered a media frenzy, transfixed the Indonesian public and galvanised prosecutors. But Bantleman is not alone: teaching assistant Ferdi Tjiong was jailed for alleged child abuse. So too were five school cleaners, including a woman. A sixth cleaner died, suspiciously, in police custody.

My eyes were burned with cigarettes. They stapled my ear. They hit me with a metal chair and a hose. – one of the male cleaners who say they were beaten into making confessions

Critics call this case a serious miscarriage of justice, citing the alleged torture and a general absence of credible evidence. Now Bantleman, his fellow accused and their supporters are fighting to clear their names.

Foreign Correspondent goes behind the scenes of that fight and traces the scandal from its beginnings, when a mother first alleged an assault on her five-year-old son...

So the man grabbed him and locked him in the toilet and undressed him – mother at school parents’ meeting

... to the same boy’s identification of the cleaners - who were promptly arrested and paraded before a media pack - and the subsequent allegation that put Bantleman and Tjiong in jail.

They had been abusing our children and threatening all of them with “I’m going to kill your mum or dad if you tell them what happened here” – mother of schoolboy

This two part investigation by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and Foreign Correspondent asks hard questions about an extraordinary case that has seen seven people jailed and another die in police hands.

Apparently his passport was never returned to him. He has been waiting 11 months until the prosecutors mounted their appeal to the Supreme Court.

I believe his passport wasn't returned due to the civil suit from one of the mothers, an appeal of the decision being immediately filed or both. Either way, I can't believe he decided to hang around after what happened to him. There are myriad ways to get out with no documents so long as you can afford to do so. The Canadian embassy abandoned him and did nothing to help him practically in any way either. An atrocious ordeal all around.

Apparently his passport was never returned to him. He has been waiting 11 months until the prosecutors mounted their appeal to the Supreme Court.

I believe his passport wasn't returned due to the civil suit from one of the mothers, an appeal of the decision being immediately filed or both. Either way, I can't believe he decided to hang around after what happened to him. There are myriad ways to get out with no documents so long as you can afford to do so. The Canadian embassy abandoned him and did nothing to help him practically in any way either. An atrocious ordeal all around.

You don't know that. The government/Embassy is doing whatever it can (legally) to help Bantleman and nothing more. FYI, a family member was a long-serving foreign affairs official, and one of his secondary duties was to visit Canadians imprisoned abroad to ensure they were being treated humanely. Another thing he passed on to me was: most of the time negotiations on these sensitive topics take place behind closed doors to avoid embarrassing either side. Just because you don't read about it in the media doesn't mean something isn't being done. One thing a lot of Canadians don't seem to understand (and this is printed on the inside back cover of every passport) is that our government officials are limited in what they can do to assist you if you get into trouble abroad.

That's great there were closed-door negotiations, etc., but where is he now? He's back in an Indo prison in what could only be subhuman conditions. My point is what was done to help him in any practical manner? Someone could have smuggled him out of the country, diplomatic protection, new passport or something that would have spared him the misery he's in now. After what the corrupt, immoral, barbaric, hypocritical, toerag, Indo judicial system did to those cleaners, you didn't really think that Bantleman was going to walk free, did you? The original ruling being overturned was a gift you rarely see in a country like Indonesia and it was squandered. It's a sad story, an embarrassment for Indonesia and it has ruined Bantleman's life (not to mention his career as an educator). Dreadful…

He could have claimed his passport was stolen (which for all practical purposes it was) and received another one within one day probably. He could have taken residency in the Canadian embassy until it was safe to leave the embassy and country. If the Canadian embassy refuses to allow a person in Banterman's position safety, or for that any other Western embassy for their prospective citizens then there is something seriously wrong there. They had to have known that there was no double jeopardy rule in third world countries like Indonesia, although neither South Africa nor Italy has one either.

When I lived in Morocco I was just outside the Spanish city of Melilla. The border was so busy, however, I taught the kid of a Spanish diplomat. He would drive to the border and they would let him through without queuing or checking any documents. When we came back it'd be the same, when we re-entered Morocco. I don't know if it would be the same but presumably Canada could have taken him into the embassy and then driven him in an Embassy car to the border and then coasted over to somewhere else. Not sure if that would have worked.

That's great there were closed-door negotiations, etc., but where is he now? He's back in an Indo prison in what could only be subhuman conditions. My point is what was done to help him in any practical manner? Someone could have smuggled him out of the country, diplomatic protection, new passport or something

Pretty sure that using diplomatic protections to extract a criminal from the country would be a breach of the Vienna Convention. Those diplomatic protections only exist if the people that enjoy them also respect the laws of the countries they work in, and don't interfere in the internal affairs of that country. This isn't the first time a miscarriage of justice against a national in a foreign country has occurred and sometimes they take years to resolve. Unfortunate, but that's reality.

plumpy nut wrote:

He could have claimed his passport was stolen (which for all practical purposes it was) and received another one within one day probably. He could have taken residency in the Canadian embassy until it was safe to leave the embassy and country. If the Canadian embassy refuses to allow a person in Banterman's position safety, or for that any other Western embassy for their prospective citizens then there is something seriously wrong there.

And when would it be "safe to leave?" Bantleman would either remain there forever or eventually be taken back into custody (see Julian Assange, Ecuadorian Embassy, London). Such a scenario raises the issue of an embassy giving asylum to a fugitive and the concomitant rights of the host country to forcibly enter the premises to seize that person. (In the case of Assange he's not wanted by the British, but by a 3rd country, thus no effort to go in and grab him). The Canadians, especially under Prime Minister Sunny Ways, are highly unlikely to risk this.

Tazz wrote:

I don't think an embassy can willingly shelter a convicted criminal in the country it's located! And that's the problem...he was convicted, then it was overturned-then overturned again!

Indonesia is moving forward with tougher penalties for convicted pedophiles, according to the department of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection.

The three regulation drafts follow a revision to Indonesia’s law on child protection, six months after the government proposed that it take effect. The gang rape and murder of a 14-year-old schoolgirl in April of this year spurred the government to organize the proposal.

The controversial law allows for heavier punishment for child sex offenders, including cruel and unusual penalties such as chemical castration for male offenders through female hormone injections and implanting violators with electronic tagging chips under the skin. Other consequences include state-sponsored rehabilitation, mandatory ten-year imprisonment and the death sentence.

Truly frightening when you consider that the are willing to label people sex offenders based on testimony involving magic stones and hidden dungeons beneath the library.